Published in Electric Literature·Apr 17, 2017Men Recommend David Foster Wallace to MeLate to the Party: Reading ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men’ for the first time — Editor’s Note: Late to the Party is a new Electric Literature series where we ask writers to read an author that, for some reason, they’ve never read. You can read previous entries here. Pre-Reading Impressions For a while, I was seeing a guy who really liked David Foster Wallace. He once forced…David Foster Wallace10 min read
Published in Human Parts·Mar 4, 2015Nice Girls Can Be CriminalsWhen you call me a “nice girl,” what you don’t understand is that I’m a criminal. I haven’t been arrested or held accountable, but when I say “I’m a nice girl” out loud, I feel the lie build up against my lips. It burns my tongue. When I tell you…Women3 min read
Published in Human Parts·Jun 4, 2014Cities That Are Not New YorkPunk Rock, Cultural Tourism, and Finding You Everywhere — In Richmond, I slipped around Cary Street, trying to match, living in the basement of Plan 9 Records like I belonged, pinching used record sleeves too tightly, fingers greased from Mary Angela’s pizza, scouring drawers of buttons in Bygones Vintage, clawing at the person I thought I could be, pretending…Cities3 min read
Mar 7, 2014How to “Dress” Like a “Writer”The Lessons of History, Now Tumbleable — Johnny Depp as John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester In contemplating this year’s AWP conference (The Animus of Writing Peeps or something), I spent a few maudlin hours staring at my closet and fondling various black sweaters. I needed some clothes that would imply that I had the ability to read…Writers3 min read
Published in Human Parts·Sep 17, 2013Gaming as Relationship StatusButton-mashing, breaking up, and other dangerous forays — When I started hanging out in other people’s basements instead of my own, I stopped playing video games. Between twelve and twenty-two, I didn’t game, and I don’t know what happened to my 90s PlayStation or my Dark Forces CD-ROM. But when my ex and I moved in together, I…Heart5 min read
Published in Human Parts·Jul 31, 2013Billy Idol, Bodies, and an Upswell of AngstWhen I was fifteen, I went to see Billy Idol. First wave punk has been my go-to musical place since I was old enough to have a go-to musical place. Blame the fact that I pulled John Lydon’s autobiography Rotten from my dad’s bookshelf in the seventh grade, and then…Heart4 min read
Published in Human Parts·Jul 10, 2013Virginia at NightThe way Virginia feels at night, that’s how I want to feel all the time. The trees move in a certain way, they do not look like other trees. They have secrets. They uncover these at night so that if you tip your eyes backward and see the stars frying…2 min read
